Drier



UNiTnn STATES PATENT @Tirreno WALLACE MCPHERSON, OF TEXARKANA, TEXAS.

DRIER.

SPECIFLCATION forming part of Letters Patent. No.387,2t3, dated August '7, 1888.

Application filed April 2, 1888.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that l, WALLAoE McPHERsoN, a citizen of the United States of America, ren siding at Texarkana, in the county of Bowie and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in driers for lumber and other material in which hot air mixed with smoke and other products of combustion is conducted and admitted into the drying chamber to utilize the greatest amount of caloric given by burning fuel; and the objects ofmy improvement are to provide, with stackless arches having a closed top and openings in the side, a series of spark-arresting plates located opposite said openings, to defiect downward all the sparks that may escape through said openings, and thereby secure perfect safety in the use of that class of driers. l attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a lumberdrier provided with arches and sparlrarresters constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view on a larger scale of a portion of one of the arches with the sparkarresting plates on the side thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of one of the arches. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of one of the arches and of the spark-arresters on the sides thereof.

In the drawings, A represents a furnace and flue, consisting of side walls,A2, and a stackless arch having a closed top, A", and a closed rear end, At. Under the front portion ofthe arch is placed a grate-B, resting on suitable sup ports, b and b2, extending across the arch.

The front of the furnace is provided with a door, C, that closes the opening through which the fuel is introduced therein, and the side Walls, A2, have series of small openings a, through which the products of combustion escape from under the arch. As the openings a 4are on a lower level than the base of the arch,

nearly all the sparks produced by light combustibles fall upon the floor of the due and become extinguished before the current of air carries them to the side openings, a; but, as

Serial No. 269,292. (No model.)

occasionally a few sparks may reach the outside of said openings, I have attached some sheet-metal spark-arresters to the sides of the arch. These sparlcarrestcrs consist of metal plates D, of suitable length, secured end to end to the sides of the furnace and extending the whole length thereof opposite the side openings, a. The plates D extend horizontally about four inches from the side walls and then downward to a point, d, on a lower level than the bottom of the openings c, and at that point the plate is bent up again to a point, d2, a few inches lower than the inner edge of the plate D, from which point it extends again snbstantially horizontally for about eight inches. It is then bent down again at d3, and its lower edge, dt, is left substantially on the same level as the point d. Halfway between the vertical portions terminating down at d. and d* is secured a vertical plate, d, that has its lower edge resting upon the ground or floor of the drier, and having its upper edge about four inches from the under side of the plate D, so

as to cause the products of combustion to follow an up-and-down course twice over before issuing from the bottom of the sparlcarresting plates, and the up-and-down zigzag can be repeated by doubling the width of the plate D and the bends made therefrom. The plate d5 is retained vertically by means of bolts epass ing at long distances apart through said plate and through the bent-down portions of the plate D and into the side walls, A2. Thimbles are placed upon said bolts on each side of the plate d5, to retain said plate and the plate D at proper distances apart.

To regulate the amountof fresh air admitted into the drier with the hot air and products of combustion rising from over the grate, a damper, F, is hinged at j' to the floor under the rear end of the grate, and is controlled by a rod, f2, extending tothe front of the furnace;

and by this means and the amount of fuel con- Y IOC spark-arrestersoppostesaid openings,ancl consaid openings, a grate at one end of the fursisting of a vertical plate, d5, and a horizontal nace, and a damper under the rear end ofsaid plate, D, bent lengthwise and having vertical grate, substantially as and for the purpose departitions on each side of the plate d5, with a scribed. 5 passage on top of the latter, substantially as In testimony whereof l ailix mysignaturein 15 and for the purpose described. presence of two Witnesses.

2. The combination of a furnace and flue W'ALLACE MCPHERSON. having an arch its whole length, and side Walls Witnesses: having openings below the base of said arch, W. E. SNoDGRAss, io with spark arresters, as described, opposite JAMES ROBINSON. 

